Central African Republic

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) Witness reports of killings in the Central African Republic, some targeting aid workers, piled up Tuesday as the UN said it saw “early signs of a genocide” in the conflict-wracked nation. At least 60 people have been killed in recent weeks in fighting between armed groups in Ngaoundaye and Batangafo in the north, Kaga-Bandoro in the centre and Alindao and Gambo to the south, witnesses have told AFP. The fighting is largely between groups on opposing sides of the brutal conflict between Muslim and ChristianRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) An ambush killed a Moroccan peacekeeper and wounded three others on Sunday in the Central African Republic, the United Nations said, blaming pro-Christian militias for the violence. “A MINUSCA (peacekeeping mission) military convoy was targeted by anti-Balaka,” it said of the clash in the southern city of Bangassou. The country is struggling to emerge from a civil war that erupted in 2013 following the overthrow of former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by Muslim rebels from the Seleka coalition. The coup led to the formationRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) At least 15 people died in clashes between UN peacekeepers and former rebels in the centre of the chronically restive Central African Republic, a humanitarian source said Sunday. The violence broke out on Saturday in the market town of Kaga-Bandoro when rebels from the former Seleka movement of mainly Muslim fighters attacked the town “to settle an old score,” a source in MINUSCA, the UN mission which has some 12,000 troops in the country, told AFP. “They (the former Seleka rebels) were confronted by theRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) Intense fighting in the Central African Republic killed at least 40 people Tuesday and injured dozens more, dashing hopes for stability in the strife-torn country the day after the signing of a ceasefire deal. The violence in the central town of Bria was between members of Christian ‘anti-balaka’ militias and fighters formerly belonging to a coalition of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka, aid and security sources said. The clashes erupted after the CAR government and rebel groups agreed to an immediate ceasefire Monday, aRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) The death toll from clashes in Central African Republic has surged to around 100, local officials said Wednesday of violence that erupted hours after the government signed a truce with rebel groups. The bloodshed, which left dozens more injured, dashed hopes of an end to the simmering sectarian violence which has blighted the country since 2013, pitting Christian anti-Balaka militias against mainly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels. Shooting erupted early on Tuesday in the central town of Bria and by midnight (2300 GMT) security sources and NGOsRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) The government of the Central African Republic on Monday signed an “immediate ceasefire” deal with rebel groups aimed at ending violence in the strife-torn country. One of the world’s poorest nations, the landlocked Central African Republic has been struggling to recover from a three-year civil war between the Muslim and Christian militias that started after the 2013 overthrow of leader Francois Bozize. In March, the country came in last of 155 nations surveyed in the annual World Happiness Report. – History of instability – InRead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) The Central African Republic’s government on Monday signed an “immediate ceasefire” deal with rebel groups at a meeting in Rome aimed at ending violence in the strife-torn country. The accord, negotiated over five days, was hailed as a precious chance to stabilise one of the world’s most volatile and poorest countries. Under it, armed groups will be given representation in the political arena in exchange for an end to attacks and blockades, and their members will be brought into the country’s armed forces. “We commitRead More

Obo (Central African Republic) (AFP) Sweat soaks into the bright red neckerchiefs of the soldiers slouching to attention on a steamy parade ground deep in the inaccessible forests of Central African Republic (CAR). The military display marked the end of a failed years-long hunt for Joseph Kony, leader of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that has its origins in 1980s Uganda. Arrayed against this elusive, lonely and brutal figure and his dwindling band of fighters, were a host of regional militaries supported by US special forces.Read More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) The UN said Thursday another peacekeeper has been found dead in the Central African Republic, bringing to five the toll from an attack this week, the deadliest so far against the mission in the unstable, violence-plagued nation. Suspected anti-Balaka Christian militias attacked the UN convoy of the MINUSCA force on Monday in the southeast of the country near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The Moroccan peacekeeper who had been reported missing has now been found dead,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. ARead More

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) Three more UN peacekeepers have been found dead after an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic, UN officials said Tuesday, bringing the death toll to four. The UN’s MINUSCA mission, which had earlier announced the death of one peacekeeper, said it was “deeply saddened to confirm that three of the four peacekeepers that were missing in action since yesterday’s attack have been found dead.” The fourth peacekeeper remains missing after the attack Monday evening. Eight attackers were killed in the crossfire, MINUSCARead More

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Arua (Uganda) (AFP) The number of South Sudanese who have fled to Uganda has hit one million, the UN said Thursday, with no end in sight to the war behind the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis. The nearly four-year civil war